Purpose – It is argued that traditional audit methods are becoming outdated in terms of delivering sufficient assurance on business objectives, whereby, a paradigm shift towards continuous auditing (CA) is proposed and perceived as necessary both by academia, standard-setting groups, and business society. However, the practical prevalence of CA is insignificant in relation to the expectations depicted. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine why this is the case by means of investigating what factors that motivate an adoption of CA amongst various internal audit functions (IAFs). Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and data are obtained through semi-structured interviews capturing internal auditors’ attitude towards CA, and what factors that influence an adoption. Findings – There is a shattered view on CA amongst IAFs, where the proponents embrace it as a set of value-adding methodologies whilst the opponents argue that it falls outside their responsibility and threaten the independence of the function. Thus, why CA has not been leveraged to its full potential is, in contrast to previous research, not solely attributable to practical factors but also due to the IAFs’ vast differences in approach to CA as a concept. Practical implications – The study has brought attention to the distinguished disparity found in internal auditors’ attitude towards CA. Ultimately, doubts, whether CA should be leveraged by IAFs has come to light. These are hurdles that need to be considered, both by academia, standard-setting groups, and business society if the leap for CA ought to continue. Originality/value – The use of semi-structured interviews contributes to in-depth understandings and insights of the internal auditors’ attitudes towards CA. Moreover, such an approach is more likely to capture the stance towards CA in greater detail than that possible of previous large-scale surveys.

Health information technology (HIT) aims to improve healthcare services by means of technological tools. Patient centered technologies such as personal health records are relatively new HIT tools that enable individuals to get involved in their health management activities. These tools enable the transformation of health consumer behavior from one of passive health information consumers to that of active managers of their health information. This new role is more interactive and engaged, and with such tools, patients can better navigate their lives, and exercise more control over their treatments, hence potentially also leading to improvement in the quality of health services. Despite the benefits of using personal health record systems for health consumers, the adoption rate of these systems remains low. Many free and paid services have not received the uptake that had been anticipated when these services were first introduced. This study investigates some factors that affect the adoption of these systems, and may shed light on some potential reasons for low adoption rates. In developing the theoretical model of this study, social cognitive theory (SCT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) were utilized. The theoretical model was validated through a quantitative survey-based methodology, and the results were derived using structural equation modeling techniques. The key findings of this study highlight the role of individual and environmental factors as determinants of end-user behavior in the adoption of personal health records. The results show that in addition to perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, factors such as social norms and technology awareness are also significantly associated with various factors that directly and indirectly affect intention to use PHRs Based on the results obtained in this study, recommendations are offered for technology providers, and possible directions are proposed for academic researchers.

Groupware packages are increasingly being used to support content delivery, class discussion, student to student and student to faculty interactions and group work on projects. This research focused on groupware packages that are used to support students who are located in different places, but who are assigned group projects as part of their coursework requirements. In many cases, students are being asked to use unfamiliar technologies that are very different from those that support personal productivity. For example, computer-assisted cooperative work (CSCW) technology is different from other more traditional, stand-alone software applications because it requires the user to interact with the computer as well as other users. However, familiarity with the technology is not the only requirement for successful completion of a group assigned project. For a group to be successful, it must also have a desire to work together on the project. If this pre-requisite is not present within the group, then the technology will only create additional communication and coordination barriers. How much of an impact does each of these factors have on the acceptance of CSCW technology? The significance of this study is threefold. First, this research contributed to how a user's predisposition toward group work affects their acceptance of CSCW technology. Second, it helped identify ways to overcome some of the obstacles associated with group work and the use of CSCW technology in an academic online environment. Finally, it helped identify early adopters of CSCW software and how these users can form the critical mass required to diffuse the technology. This dissertation reports the impact of predisposition toward group work and prior computer experience on the intention to use synchronous CSCW. It was found that predisposition toward group work was not only positively associated to perceived usefulness; it was also related to intention to use. It also found that perceived ease of use, at least in this study, had a direct and positive impact on intention, and was not mediated through perceived usefulness. These findings hold implications for academia and how it uses complex collaborative software. Avenues for further research are identified.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the style of a user interface (i.e., its look and feel) has an effect on the usability of a synchronous computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) environment for delivering Internet-based collaborative content. The problem motivating this study is that people who are located in different places need to be able to communicate with one another. One way to do this is by using complex computer tools that allow users to share information, documents, programs, etc. As an increasing number of business organizations require workers to use these types of complex communication tools, it is important to determine how users regard these types of tools and whether they are perceived to be useful. If a tool, or interface, is not perceived to be useful then it is often not used, or used ineffectively. As organizations strive to improve communication with and among users by providing more Internet-based collaborative environments, the users' experience in this form of delivery may be tied to a style of user interface look and feel that could negatively affect their overall acceptance and satisfaction of the collaborative environment. The significance of this study is that it applies the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a tool for evaluating style of user interface look and feel in a collaborative environment, and attempts to predict which factors of that model, perceived ease of use and/or perceived usefulness, could lead to better acceptance of collaborative tools within an organization.

For the first time ever, mobile payments in Sweden have overtaken cash as the preferred method of payment when it comes to monthly payments. With cashless payments growing in Sweden and all over the world it is clear that mobile payment methods are going to increase in our everyday lives. As elders tend to have more difficulties learning and understanding software, it is not unlikely that this will affect the adoption of mobile payment methods. As cash is rapidly disappearing as a payment method in Sweden it is important to gain insight into which factors affect the acceptance of mobile payment methods among senior citizens, as they are the most frequent users of cash today. This is a qualitative case study where five seniors have been interviewed about their opinions on mobile payments based on a theoretical model of mobile adoption consisting of eleven variables. The interviews came to center around the Swedish mobile payment application Swish as it was the only mobile payment service that the participants were aware of and had experience using. The study’s goal is to gain knowledge of what variables are of importance to the senior consumers when deciding whether or not to adopt a mobile payment system. The main findings of the study are that the variables: social influence, attractiveness of alternatives and trust are the variables that have been seen to affect the senior citizens' adoption of mobile payment the most.

The following study examines the background of users’ decisions about their behavior concerning online identity, specifically looking at the acceptance or rejection of self-sovereign identity solutions and the technologies that support them: blockchain and asymmetric encryption. A qualitative analysis is presented of typical user narratives concerning online behavior, while exploring the cultural values underlying users’ decisions about accepting or rejecting new, potentially emancipatory technologies. The results include inventories of values and beliefs that played a key part in informing the respondents’ behaviors, and presents four distilled narratives of reasoning about online identity in the form of the archetypes of the ​Pragmatist, the Self-doubter, the ​Cyber-conscious and the ​Futurist user, each representing a specific set of values, beliefs and their interplay resulting in specific intentions and behaviors, along with design guidelines for innovative blockchain technologies based on the user expectations in these narratives. The research concludes with relating the findings to existing theory, and proposing a number of quantitatively testable hypotheses for the refinement of technology acceptance research in the specific domain of online security and identity.

M.Tech (Department of Information technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Science), Vaal University of Technology. / The advancement of technology, particularly in the area of mobile computing, revolutionizes the way business is done in many industries such as the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, retail sector and the way people conduct their daily activities. The current technology provides influential tools for organisations and can significantly influence their operation, structure and approach. The development of mobile computing has created a new innovation for various industries by increasing the availability, frequency and speed of communication between the organisations and the individuals. However, users’ perceptions can play an important role towards the adoption of these new developments. The overriding purpose of this study was to investigate the users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing in South Africa for adoption of e-applications. The literature review was concentrated on the process of progressive development occurring during the study. To accomplish that goal it became necessary to reach some essential objectives i.e. investigating the users’ perceptions models in literature. For the purpose of the study, it was important to propose a research framework for users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing with the potential for the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. The research evaluated the proposed framework to establish if there is any relationship between the e-application adoption factors. Furthermore, the hypotheses were tested to determine which factors would influence the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. Technology Adoption Model 2 (TAM2) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) provide the theoretical basis for explaining how users perceive e-application services that they access and operate through mobile computing. To achieve that, a quantitative study was conducted with South African residents, with respect to mobile security perceptions; 476 valid questionnaires were received from the participants who were selected non-randomly. Questionnaires were developed from the proposed research framework derived from DOI and TAM2 and the items were adopted from other prior technology adoption studies. Through the use of the survey instrument developed for this study, data were collected in order to address the importance of this study based on the problem statement posed in the first chapter of this dissertation. The valid questionnaires were analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24.0. Reliability analysis, principal component analysis, correlations and multiple linear regression tests were conducted. Among other things this study made sure that ethical considerations are adhered to. The findings revealed positive relationships between perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, perceived ease of use of security mechanisms, subjective norm on security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms, compatibility of security mechanisms, complexity of security mechanisms, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface and intention to adopt e-applications. Furthermore, subjective norm on security mechanisms was strongly correlated to intention to adopt e-applications, complexity of security mechanisms strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms and aesthetic of security mechanisms interface strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms. In addition, subjective norm of security mechanisms strongly influence intention to adopt eapplications in South Africa. Also, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface strongly influence both perceived usefulness of security mechanisms and perceived ease of use of security mechanisms. The reason behind it may be interpreted as users nowadays seeing the beauty as the platform to attract and encourage them to use e-applications. Finally, the proposed model analysis and survey evaluation will enable South African organizations to make informed decisions about the use of e-applications services. These findings contribute to a road map for the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, and retail sector as well as to encourage their customers or clients to adopt e-applications.

Background: Emerging in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly changed consumer behaviour leading to social distancing and mitigating physical contact. Statistics show an increased use of contactless and mobile payment usage and adoption during the pandemic. It is unclear how valid previous models on mobile payment adoption explain adoption behaviour in emergency situations. While there are few studies approaching the adoption behaviour during the pandemic, there is also little previous research on mobile payment adoption prior to the pandemic in Germany. Purpose: The present thesis intends to advance several previously researched technological adoption frameworks to focus on and measure consumers’ perception of mobile payment technology adopting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, our model provides a basis to understand mobile payment adoption in Germany during the pandemic. Method: Based on hypotheses derived from an adapted UTAUT2 model, we conducted quantitative deductive research reaching 258 questionnaire participants based in Germany. The empirical data was analysed through structural equation modelling. Conclusion: The findings show that Performance Expectancy still represents the primary driver of intention to adopt mobile payments during the pandemic, yet it is strongly supported by the initially contextualised Contamination Avoidance element and complemented by Habit, Effort Expectancy. Practitioners benefit from the study to better tailor campaigns in accordance with the main driver of adoption behaviour, while our findings contribute new insights into technology adoption in Germany during emergency situations.

This study investigates the 404 error and in what way feedback should be given to the user in an error message to generate a good user experience. To investigate this, data was gathered from 1) a literature review looking at previous studies in User Experience Design, as well as different models to evaluate ease of use and perceived usefulness, 2) a pre-study questionnaire with nine participants who were asked questions related to error messages and feedback in general, and 3) two user tests; the first including 16 participants and the second including 46 participants. During the user tests the participants interacted with a prototype of a website that included 404 error messages. In the first user test the participants' user experience was evaluated based on the TAM model, including perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The second user study focused more on text and illustrations and their effects on the user experience. Three versions of texts were tested, formal, apologetic and amusing. The illustrations either included a character or an object. The result showed that, in general, the users preferred formal texts, as well as illustrations that included a character. The result also suggested that there is not one type of feedback that fits all users, in order to generate a good user experience, it is important to know the audience.

Service delivery in the twenty-first generation is evolving into more digital forms expanding the consumers' experience and engaging in new forms of communications to consumers through these digital forms. Despite the initiation of self- service technology being widely accepted by consumers within the retail banking industry, the supermarket retail industry has yet to experience the same form of reception and implementation of the self- service technologies (SST). South Africa, being a developing country, any conventions that lead to the country’s progression should be embraced. Thus, the introduction of SST within retail is assumed to enhance consumer's experiences, these technologies open the prospects to generate possibilities for producing new services and enhancing efficiency.The study aimed at evaluating factors of perception through the employment of a conceptualized framework from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An understanding of why SSTs in retail have not been widely implemented would respond to the challenges associated with the adoption of SSTs from a consumer’s perspective. The findings, from a questionnaire survey posed, revealed that there is a high expression on the intention of using the technologies should the opportunity presents itself. Most of the participants exhibited a high familiarity with the self-service technologies, online purchasing, and self- check- out services, thus the measure of intent resulted in a high margin.